The  Welsh  Ponv 


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THE  WELSH  PONY 


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THE  WELSH  PONY 

DESCRIBED  IN  TWO  LETTERS  TO  A  FRIEND 
BY    OLIVE    TILFORD    DARGAN 


BOSTON  :   PRINTED  PRIVATELY 
FOR  CHARLES  A.  STONE    :     1913 


tk  i  2^  Copyright.  1913,  by  Charles  A.  Stone 


PINKHAM  PRESS,  BOSTON 


To  ANNE  WHITNEY 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


HERD  OF  WELSH  MOUNTAIN  PONIES  GRAZING     Frontispiece 

MY  LORD  PEMBROKE xii 

A  MORNING  RIDE liv 

IMPORTED  WELSH  STALLION  RAINBOW    ....  4 

SEARCHLIGHT— PONY  MARE 6 

THE  FAMOUS  WELSH  STALLION  GREYLIGHT  ...  8 

A  FULL  BROTHER  OF  DAYLIGHT 10 

LONGMYND    FAVORITE    AND   HER   FOAL   MANOMET 

WHITE  STAR 12 

MY  LORD  PEMBROKE  WHEN  THREE  YEARS  OLD    .        .  14 

LONGMYND  ECLIPSE  ON  A  RAINY  DAY    ....  16 

A  WELSH  COB 18 

MARE  AND  FOAL 20 

LONGMYND 22 

LONGMYND  COMMONS 24 

IMPORTED  WELSH  STALLION  MY  LORD  PEMBROKE  26 

LONGMYND  ECLIPSE  AND  GROVE  RAINBOW               .  28 

LONGMYND  CASTOR 32 

LONGMYND  ECLIPSE  AND  MY  LORD  PEMBROKE       .  34 

vii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


BRECON 36 

THE  BEACONS 38 

LONGMYND  POLLOX 40 

FOREST  LODGE  PASTURES 42 

MY  LORD  PEMBROKE 44 

KNIGHTON   SENSATION,    LONGMYND   ECLIPSE   AND 

MY  LORD  PEMBROKE 46 

KNIGHTON  SENSATION 48 

MY  LORD  PEMBROKE  IN  HARNESS 50 


INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 


While  living  in  Devon  about  a  year  ago,  I 
first  became  acquainted  with  the  Welsh  pony 
and  found  great  pleasure  in  riding  and  driving 
with  my  children  through  the  charming  lanes 
and  by-ways  of  Southwestern  England. 

I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  have  at  that  time  an 
attractive  little  gray  mare  which  was  loaned  to 
me  by  a  friend  who  was  spending  the  winter 
in  France.  This  little  mare,  partly  Welsh,  was 
so  cheerful  and  friendly,  and  seemed  so  much 
to  enjoy  our  excursions  into  the  country,  that 
I  felt  sorry  to  leave  her  behind  when  I  left 
Devon. 

The  following  spring,  at  the  London  Horse 
Show,  I  saw  some  splendid  specimens  of  thor- 
oughbred Welsh  mountain  ponies  ridden  by 
children,  and  my  wife  and  I  were  so  attracted 
by  them  that  we  determined  to  get  four  or  five 
and  bring  them  to  America.  Later  during  the 
same  season,  at  the  Royal  Agricultural  Show> 
which  is  the  best  fair  of  its  kind  in  the  world, 


21 


INTRODUCTION 

I  saw  many  splendid  ponies  of  the  Welsh  breed, 
and  had  an  opportunity  to  find  out  more  partic- 
ularly about  them. 

A  trip  to  Wales  was  then  planned  with  a  view 
of  visiting  the  ponies  on  their  native  hills  and 
arranging  with  some  owners  and  breeders  to 
help  me  select  a  small  herd  for  shipment  to 
Boston.  On  this  trip  I  found  the  Welsh  country 
so  charming  and  the  ponies  so  attractive  and  so 
different  from  any  ponies  I  had  known  before, 
that  I  spent  altogether  several  weeks  in  Wales 
and  the  border  counties  selecting  a  herd  which 
finally  amounted  to  about  twenty-five  of  the 
best  of  the  true  mountain  type  that  I  could 
obtain. 

I  have  been  pondering  ever  since,  not  only 
how  I  might  improve  and  add  to  my  own  some- 
what superficial  knowledge  of  the  remarkable 
qualities  of  the  Welsh  pony,  but  also  how  I 
might  bring  him  to  the  favorable  notice  of  my 
countrymen.  In  this  endeavor  I  was  fortunately 
able  to  enlist  the  interest  of  my  cousin.  Miss 
Whitney,  whose  friend,  Mrs.  Olive  Tilford 
Dargan,  was  at  that  time  journeying  through 
England   and   Wales.     Miss   Whitney   saw   the 


ol« 


ns     3 


a; 


INTRODUCTION 

opportunity  that  lay  before  me  provided  Mrs. 
Dargan  could  be  won  to  a  study  of  the  pony 
problem,  and  promised  to  set  herself  at  once  to 
the  attainment  of  this  object  —  although  she 
did  say  that  such  a  call  upon  her  friend  was 
about  as  nearly  related  to  that  lady's  real  voca- 
tion as  a  yokel's  whistle  to  Pan's  pipes.  I  think, 
however,  that  the  author  of  the  following  letters 
has  shown  a  true  idea  of  the  dignity  inherent  in 
the  mission  to  which  she  was  summoned,  and 
has  indeed  written  up  to  it;  responding  to  the 
request  of  her  friend  with  a  whole-souled  hearti- 
ness which  makes  me  her  grateful  beneficiary. 

C.  A.  S. 
December.  1912. 


Xlll 


THE  WELSH  PONY— HIS  PEDIGREE 

LETTER  NUMBER  ONE 


LETTER  NUMBER  ONE 


London,  England,  July  ij,  igii 

Dear  A : 

Some  months  ago  you  asked  me  to  tell  you  all 
that  I  knew  or  could  discover  about  the  Welsh 
pony.  I  will  tell  you  if  you  will  stand  the  listen- 
ing. For  since  you  bade  me  I  have  taken  the  sub- 
ject to  heart  and  can  talk  on  it  from  dawn  to  dusk. 
We  have  travelled — pony  and  I  —  from  Arabia 
to  the  Lybian  sands  and  from  Scandanavia  to  the 
midland  seas;  and  on  my  recent  journey  through 
Wales — that  land,  as  you  know,  of  old  adventure 
and  anguish  of  endless  battle  —  I  kept  but  half 
an  eye  in  pursuit  of  the  vanishing  skirts  of 
Romance;  the  other  eye  and  a  half  swept  along 
the  vista  in  search  of  the  mountain  lady  who 
trips  so  handsomely  on  her  four  feet  that  Sir 
Phenacodus  Primaevus,  could  he  behold  her 
from  his  fossil  retreat,  would  acknowledge  his 
success  as  an  ancestor,  whatever  may  have 
been  his  discouragements  in  prehistoric  society. 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

At  first,  aware  of  my  weakness  for  the  equine, 
1  was  afraid  that  I  had  succumbed  to  my 
charmer  with  regrettable  haste,  but  association 
only  fixed  my  loyalty  and  sustained  the  cre- 
dentials that  he  wears  on  every  inch  of  him. 
Let  me  parenthesize  here  and  have  done  with 
it,  that  if  I  use  my  genders  in  hopeless  inter- 
change, or  am  forced  to  the  apologetic  "it," 
you  must  extricate  the  sex  as  best  you  can,  and 
re-register  your  old  vow  to  reform  the  English 
language.  "She"  will  apply  but  ludicrously  to 
the  gallant  entires  that  were  asked  to  exhibit 
their  best  steps  before  me;  and  "he"  does  not 
come  naturally  to  my  pen  if  I  have  in  mind 
some  of  the  graceful  mares  whose  acquaintance 
I  made  as  they  drew  me  through  pass  and  over 
bryn,  almost  coquetting  with  the  task  laid  upon 
them,  yet  modest  withal,  for  the  Welsh  pony, 
be  the  pronoun  what  it  may,  never  forgets 
manners. 

Later,  at  the  Olympia,  during  the  Inter- 
national Horse  Show,  I  spent  a  fatuously 
happy  time  in  the  stables.  Many  pony  types 
were  exhibited,  and  nobly  they  represented  their 
kind,  but  I  found  none  so  love-inspiring  as  the 


O     " 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

little  conqueror  from  Cymric,  "Shooting  Star," 
owned  by  Sir  Walter  Gilbey.  He  is  a  dapple- 
gray,  eleven  hands  high,  of  perfect  shape  and 
brim-full  of  spirit,  not  of  the  self-conscious 
kind,  eager  for  gratuitous  display,  but  un- 
abashed, careful  of  the  amenities,  and  avowing 
with  all  the  grace  in  him  that  he  will  be  your 
friend  if  you  choose  to  be  his.  If  he  has  one 
defect  it  is  a  parsimony  of  tail,  though  I  heard 
none  of  his  thousands  of  admirers  make  that 
criticism;  and  he  carries  it  up  and  out  in  true 
Arabian  style.  In  the  arena,  when  all  of  the 
horses  came  in  for  the  general  parade  —  the 
big  Clydesdales  first,  followed  by  representatives 
of  nearly  every  breed  in  the  world,  the  proces- 
sion ending  with  a  wee  Shetland,  whose  mistress 
is  the  little  Princess  Juliana  of  Holland  —  it 
was  Shooting  Star  that  received  the  most 
impulsive  greeting — an  applause  of  love  evoked 
by  his  irresistible  dearness,  billowing  where  he 
passed  until  he  completed  the  great  circuit. 

I  had  the  assurance  of  others  who  daily 
haunted  the  Show  that  this  triumph  was  a 
feature  of  every  general  parade;  and  it  was 
then  that  I  began  to  ask  a  certain  Why?     Why 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

is  the  Welsh  pony  gifted  with  a  symmetry  that 
subjugates  at  sight,  while  his  congeners  too 
often  show  an  ensemble  whose  mild  ungainliness 
must  be  admitted  by  their  best  of  friends? 
Why,  with  the  hardihood  of  the  half-wild 
forager,  and  unflagging  endurance,  does  he  dis- 
play the  grace  and  bearing  that  we  associate 
with  carefully  tended  animals  of  pedigree? 
The  Exmoor  and  Dartmoor  types  only  in  a 
moderate  degree  show  signs  of  high  descent, 
and  the  ponies  of  the  Fells  (though  I  mind  me 
well  of  the  lovable  traits  of  some  of  my  neigh- 
bors among  them  up  in  the  shires  of  Cumber- 
land and  Westmoreland)  are  indubitably  plebian, 
while  the  Welsh  pony  is  a  patrician  on  his  wildest 
hill.  Even  those  who  hold  a  brief  for  other 
breeds  confess  his  superiority  in  points  that 
stamp  him  "of  the  blood."  Parkinson  pro- 
claims him  the  perfect  pony  of  the  kingdom, 
and  Lord  Lucas,  who  for  some  years  has  been 
engaged  in  improving  the  New  Forest  pony, 
says,  after  an  excursion  in  search  of  desirable 
strains  to  introduce  into  the  Forest,  that  he 
found  the  best  ponies  in  Wales;  and  he  has 
confirmed    his    judgment    by    the    purchase    of 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

"Daylight,"  a  young  Carmarthenshire  pony  of 
prepotent  promise,  for  alliance  with  the  Forest 
stock. 

The  breeder  of  Daylight  seems  particularly 
able  in  adding  "lights"  to  a  constellation  whose 
first  impulse  to  shine  came  from  Dyoll  Starlight, 
a  sire  who  cannot  be  accused  of  any  desire  to  hide 
his  light  under  a  bushel.  It  gleams  not  merely 
from  one  hill,  but  a  hundred,  and  the  breeder 
so  happy  as  to  own  a  bit  of  this  strain  rarely 
fails  to  advertise  his  good  fortune  in  the  name 
he  gives  to  his  prize.  The  result  is  a  confusion 
of  Starlights,  Greylights  —  even  Skylights!  — 
in  repeated  series  distinguished  as  Starlight  II, 
III,  etc.,  until  the  dazzled  investigator  prays 
for  an  eclipse.  I  take  it,  however,  as  a  hopeful 
sign  that  one  of  the  latest  comers  to  the  circle 
is  yclept  Radium.  But  to  know  these  ponies 
makes  one  lenient  to  the  pride  that  clings  to 
the  family  name.  I  send  you  a  photograph  of 
Searchlight,  a  daughter  of  Dyoll  Starlight,  and 
granddaughter  of  Merlyn  Myddfai,  who  was 
sold  into  Australia.  She  is  a  sister  to  Daylight, 
bought  by  Lord  Lucas,  and  also  to  Sunlight,  a 
three-year  old  pony  mare,  undoubtedly  with  a 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

scintillating  future,  who  will  be  exhibited  for  the 
first  time  at  Swansea  during  the  National  Pony- 
Show,  whither  I  intend  to  go  just  to  have  sight 
of  some  of  the  exquisite  young  things  that  are 
springing  up  all  over  Wales  since  the  recent 
awakening  of  Taffy  the  Thrifty  to  the  fact  that 
the  pony  is  one  of  the  most  profitable  assets  of 
his  country.  The  photograph  of  Searchlight  is 
somewhat  unfair  to  her  beauty.  The  slight 
turn  of  the  head  coarsens  the  nose  and  widens 
the  lower  jaw  with  an  unpatrician  suggestion  of 
which  there  is  no  hint  when  she  is  before  you 
in  vivid  substance.  Her  brother,  Greylight, 
poses  more  successfully,  but  I  send  you  Search- 
light also,  partly  because  she  is  a  lady,  and 
of  a  more  retired  life,  but  mainly  because  she 
illustrates,  so  far  as  may  be  in  a  photograph, 
that  indefinable  thing  called  "pony  character," 
which  you  will  find  me  dilating  on  later. 
Just  now  I  want  to  get  back  to  my  Why. 
What  in  the  history  of  the  Welsh  pony  will 
explain  this  union  of  hardy  wilderness  qualities 
with  a  form  as  perfect  as  that  produced  in 
Arabia  after  two  thousand  years  of  jealous 
breeding?     I  asked  the  question  of  dealers  and 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

breeders  and  oldest  inhabitants.  I  went  to  the 
hills  to  ask  it  of  the  pony  himself;  and  to  the 
British  Museum  to  ask  it  of  relics  and  tomes; 
following  my  "Why"  to  Arabia,  to  Libya,  and 
back  to  the  "elephant  bed"  of  the  Brighton 
Pleistocene,  where  I  stopped;  for  there,  it 
seemed  to  me,  the  Welsh  pony  began,  so  far  as 
research  permits  him  to  have  a  beginning.  To 
follow  him  beyond  neolithic  man  into  the 
paleozoic  ages,  when  he  was  merely  an  old 
father  Hipparion  puzzling  as  to  whether  he 
should  remain  in  his  bog  and  unenterprisingly 
evolve  into  a  tapir,  or  go  into  deeper  and  wetter 
regions  and  be  a  spiritless  rhino,  or  step  bravely 
onto  dry  land,  turn  his  five  flabby  toes  into  a 
fieet  and  solid  hoof,  and  become  the  noble 
equus  caballuSy —  to  pursue  him  thus  far  would 
keep  me  wandering  in  a  region  of  timorous 
conjecture  where  he  was  neither  Welsh  nor  a 
pony.  So  I  begin  with  the  Brighton  deposit, 
where  was  found  the  skeleton  of  a  small  horse 
supposed,  without  successful  contradiction,  to 
be  an  ancestor  of  a  species  which  Professor  James 
Cossar  Ewart  has  named  the  Pony  Celticus, 
and   which  once  overspread   Western   Europe. 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

The  tribe  was  gradually  driven  to  the  wall, 
meaning  in  this  case  the  sea,  and  their  descend- 
ants, certainly  considerably  modified,  are  even 
now  to  be  found  in  the  outer  Hebrides  and  the 
Faroes.  They  lingered  long  in  North  Wales, 
that  little  nest  of  undisturbed  peaks,  and  it  was 
with  the  descendants  of  this  species  that  the 
Romans  mated  their  military  animals  and  pro- 
duced the  packhorse  so  necessary  in  rugged 
West  Britain.  This  packhorse  was  not  the 
heavy  creature  that  his  name  suggests,  but  a 
sure-footed,  light-bodied  animal,  capable,  how- 
ever burdened,  of  going  nimbly  up  and  down 
the  hills.  In  East  Britain  and  the  midlands 
there  was  no  incentive  to  breed  him,  as  the 
numerous  heavier  types  sprung  from  the  Forest 
horse  were  more  serviceable  there.  But  in 
Wales  at  this  time  we  have  the  first  authentic 
infiltration  of  alien  blood,  and  this  blood  was 
undoubtedly  of  the  Orient.  The  Romans,  we 
know,  were  patrons  of  the  East  in  matters 
equestrian,  and  in  their  files  of  leadership  there 
could  have  been 

"no  lack 
Of  a  proud  rider  on  so  proud  a  back" 

10 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

as  that  of  the  Arabian  courser.  But  of  more 
importance  than  such  occasionally  distinguished 
pedigrees  was  the  fact  that  their  army  horses 
in  general  were  Gallic;  and  the  Gallic  horse  was 
of  Eastern  origin.  So  the  Romans  left  to  Wales 
not  only  a  heritage  of  legendary  stone,  such  as 
the  old  camp,  Y  Caer  Bannau,  which  is  shown 
you  in  Breconshire,  but  a  far  more  valued 
legacy  which  is  yet  animate  in  the  veins  of  the 
Welsh  pony.  The  invaders  were  busy  in  Wales 
for  four  hundred  years,  during  which  time  the 
packhorse  became  a  domestic  type,  and  gradu- 
ally the  acclimated  Arabian  blood  crept  up  the 
hills  and  among  the  wildest  herds  —  a  slow  in- 
fusion that  left  the  pony  still  a  pony,  retaining 
all  the  hardihood  that  made  life  possible  on  the 
scanty-herbaged  peaks. 

The  ponies  of  the  southern  moors,  no  doubt, 
were  also  marked  by  this  early  cross;  and  they, 
too,  still  held  at  the  time  something  of  their 
heritage  from  the  Pony  Celticus;  but  their 
position  had  left  them  liable  to  mixture  with 
the  Forest  Horse,  or  what  represented  him  in 
the  low-countries,  and  it  was  by  just  that 
mixture  that  the  packhorse  of  Wessex,  which 

11 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

was  the  "gentleman's  horse"  in  Devon  down  to 
two  hundred  years  ago,  became  different  from 
that  of  Wales.  It  is  very  unlikely  that  the 
Forest  Horse  was  ever  in  the  Cambrian  hills, 
and  the  active  little  Pony  Celticus  on  his  remote 
slopes  escaped  any  alliance  with  that  phlegmatic 
blood.  For  this  reason,  in  the  Welsh  descend- 
ants of  the  species,  the  Eastern  horse  found  a 
comparatively  unmixed  strain  which  was  prob- 
ably as  old  as  his  own.  The  frequent  absence 
of  ergots  and  callossities  (those  vestigial  signs, 
near  knee  and  fetlock,  of  vanished  digits) 
would  indicate  in  the  Pony  Celticus  a  develop- 
ment as  ancient  at  least  as  that  of  the  Libyan 
ancestors  of  the  Arabian  horse.  Professor 
Ridgeway,  of  Cambridge  University,  thinks  that 
he  may  even  be  a  related  northern  branch  of 
the  horse  of  Libya,  and  that  both  the  North 
African  species  and  the  Pony  Celticus  may 
claim  the  bones  of  the  small  horse  found  in  the 
Brighton  Pleistocene  as  ancestral.  If  this  be 
true,  then  when  Roman  met  Welsh  in  equine 
society,  the  two  oldest  breeds  of  the  world  were 
united,  and,  as  you  know,  the  older  the  breed 
the    more    ineradicable    are    its    characteristics. 


12 


I  i 

-J  u. 

<  u 

O  " 


3  ^ 

<  - 


>  t 

<  o 

'J  J; 

z  6 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

If  originally  congeneric,  that  too  would  be  in 
favor  of  the  type  produced  by  such  a  union,  and 
may  be  a  key  to  the  persistence  and  potency  of 
the  Welsh  mountain  stock.  In  the  Pony  Celti- 
cus,  wherever  his  modified  posterity  is  least 
changed,  the  dorsal  and  lateral  marks  indicating 
equatorial  origin  are  reproduced  with  little 
difficulty. 

And  we  have  another  reason  for  suspecting 
the  pony  ancestor  of  our  Welsh  variety  to  be  of 
North  African  kinship  rather  than  allied  to  the 
Asiatic  horse,  with  large  ergots  and  heavy 
callossities,  which  came  by  the  northern  route 
into  Scandinavia.  This  horse,  by  tradition  and 
record,  was  of  an  intractable  disposition.  It 
was  in  upper  Asia  that  the  bit  originated,  while 
the  Libyan  horse  was  of  so  gentle  a  nature  that 
his  descendant  is  yet  ridden  on  the  Arabian 
plains  with  no  more  guidance  than  can  be  given 
by  a  simple  noseband.  Of  this  horse  Mohammed 
could  say,  "God  made  him  of  a  condensation  of 
the  southwest  wind";  the  consummate  simile  for 
fleetness  and  mildness.  But  I  don't  accuse  the 
Asiatic  horse  of  being  the  first  sinner.  Though 
the  callossities  are  against  his  being  as  old  as 

13 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

the  Libyan,  he  may  have  originally  possessed 
as  gentle  a  temper,  which  became  lost  through 
association  with  brutal  races  (see  Herodotus) 
who  insisted  on  being  masters  instead  of  friends. 
The  horse  resents  mastery,  as  you  know,  and  re- 
sentment is  peculiarly  poisonous  to  his  character. 
Make  him  a  comrade  or  nothing.  His  ascent  may 
have  been  more  dignified  than  our  own,  and  in 
one  way  at  least  he  prehistorically  showed  more 
gentle  intentions;  'twas  we  who  kept  the  claws! 
But  while  I  leave  the  question  of  responsibility 
open  in  the  case  of  the  Asiatic  horse,  I  am  glad 
to  think  that  our  pony  did  not  come  by  way  of 
his  blood,  whether  corrupted  by  man  or  tainted 
with  original  sin.  Certain  it  is  that  the  Pony 
Celticus  possessed  a  docility  and  fair-mindedness 
that  indicated  a  blameless  descent,  and  there 
is  no  evidence  that  his  Welsh  ofi"spring  were 
ever  handled  by  man  in  a  way  to  warp  his 
character.  It  is  true  that  in  his  wild  state, 
after  the  sheep-dog  was  introduced  into  Wales 
(which  was  comparatively  late),  the  pony  was 
much  harried,  and  driven  to  the  more  barren 
regions;  but  whenever  brought  down  to  the 
farms    he    was    at    once    admitted    to    family 

14 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

privileges  that  gave  him  confidence  in  human- 
ity. As  early  as  the  days  of  the  good  king, 
Howell  Dha,  laws  for  his  care  and  pro- 
tection were  recorded,  and  these  seem  to 
have  been  but  a  codification  of  rules  that  had 
long  been  in  general  practice.  We  read  that 
if  a  man  borrowed  a  horse  and  fretted  the  hair 
on  his  back  he  was  to  pay  a  fine  to  the  owner; 
but  such  a  law  as  we  find  among  the  ancient 
statutes  of  Ireland,  "Quhasoever  sail  be  tryet 
or  fund  to  stow  or  cut  ane  uther  man's  hors 
tail  sail  be  pwunschit  as  a  thief,"  seems  to  have 
had  no  call  for  existence  in  Welshland. 

I  have  said  that  there  was  no  danger  of 
invasion  by  the  larger  British  horse  on  the 
eastern  side.  His  big  feet  would  not  have  been 
at  home  on  the  rocky  Welsh  passes.  On  the 
fen  side  of  England  the  horses  developed  a 
softness  of  hoof  and  sponginess  of  bone  whose 
gradual  alteration  in  later  days  to  a  close, 
dense  texture,  was  one  of  the  difficulties  that 
had  to  be  overcome  in  the  production  of 
the  English  thoroughbred;  but,  fortunately, 
the  mountain  pony  was  never  troubled  by 
such    an    inheritance.       On    the    channel    side 


15 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

of  Wales  there  was  a  smaller  breed  of  attrac- 
tive neighbors,  and  the  question  of  invasion 
was  different.  Just  a  short  space  across  the 
water  lay  a  nation  of  kindred  Celts,  and 
that  they  exchanged  horses  as  well  as  wives 
with  their  Welsh  cousins  —  not  always  by  con- 
sent—  literature  gives  us  sufficient  proof.  And 
the  horses  of  Ireland,  happily  bred  on  a  soil  of 
limestone  formation,  developed  such  compact- 
ness, strength,  and  fineness  of  bone,  that  when 
their  hard,  clean,  flat  legs  brought  them  into 
Welsh  camps  and  pastures  they  were  always 
welcome  to  the  unseen  genius  attendant  on  the 
mountain  pony.  The  once  noted  Irish  hobbie 
was  often  brought  into  Wales  and  left  his  mark 
there. 

The  records  left  by  the  admirers  of  this 
animal  are  pleasant  reading.  Says  old  Blunde- 
vill:  **These  are  tender-mouthed,  nimble,  light, 
pleasant,  apt  to  be  taught,  and  for  the  most 
part  they  be  amblers  and  therefore  verie  meete 
for  the  saddle  and  to  travel  by  the  way."  And 
this  desirable  creature  was  produced  by  a  union 
of  the  Spanish-Arabian  horse  with  the  Irish 
pony,    the    descendant    of    the    yet    prevailing 

16 


z 

O 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

Celtlcus;  for  the  Irish  isle,  as  the  Welsh  hills, 
was  one  of  his  last  strongholds.  But  long 
before  the  introduction  of  Spanish  stallions  into 
Ireland,  this  pony  had  become  modified  by  the 
Gallic  breed  —  the  same  Eastern  strain  that  the 
Romans  brought  into  Wales.  In  the  three 
horse  skulls  with  finely  preserved  Arabian  fea- 
tures, recently  discovered  in  a  peat-buried 
crannog,  Professor  Ridgeway  finds  proof  that 
the  Eastern  horse  was  in  Ireland  possibly  as 
early  as  the  sixth  century;  and  the  description 
of  the  horses  in  the  oldest  Irish  saga  support 
the  claim  that  the  warhorse  and  charger  of  the 
Irishman  in  his  epic  days  were  of  Eastern  im- 
portation. Breton  was  an  open  way  of  the 
Gallic  horse  to  Ireland,  for  there  was  much 
compliment,  combat,  and  barter,  between  the 
Irish  and  Breton  Celts.  And  the  horse  of 
Breton  was  particularly  suitable  for  union  with 
Irish  stock,  the  Arabian  in  him  being  already 
modified  by  a  hardy  breed  of  the  hills.  Now 
let  me  get  back  to  Wales,  taking  with  me  this 
augmentation  of  the  Arabian  strain,  pony- 
diluted,  through  the  Irish  port  —  another  in- 
fusion most  happily  chosen  by  the  beneficence 

17 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

that  seems  to  have  guided  the  Welsh  pony  in 
his  evolution.  Not  too  much  of  this  visiting 
blood  either;  for  there  were  always  wild  herds 
that  kept  much  to  themselves;  "companys  of 
beesties"  content  to  come  only  occasionally  to 
the  valleys,  when  they  would  lure  away  some 
gallant  or  coquette  of  the  lowlands,  glad  to 
sniff  the  air  of  a  fuller  freedom.  It  was  the 
slowness  of  these  infusions,  filtering  through 
centuries,  and  always  the  same  inexpungeable 
strain,  that  has  made  the  cross  so  lastingly 
successful. 

Now  to  rush  down  to  the  modern  period.  As 
population  grew,  the  making  of  roads,  reclama- 
tion of  slopes,  and  increase  in  local  valley  traffic, 
made  the  larger  horse  more  attractive  to  the 
eyes  of  the  Welshman;  and  some  praiseworthy 
types,  notably  the  Cob,  were  produced  by  the 
introduction  of  well-bred  English  sires.  But 
there  were  unwelcome  by-products  in  the 
process,  and  the  importations  from  the  Shires 
were  often  ill-judged  and  indiscreet.  The  light, 
graceful-bodied  carthorse,  of  miraculous  en- 
durance, the  descendant  of  the  early  packhorse, 
and   very   different  from   the   clumsy,   sluggish 

18 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

carthorse  of  the  Shires,  has  suffered  deterioration 
in  beauty,  bone  and  spirit.  As  a  sage  of  Rad- 
norshire puts  it,  there  is  a  touch  too  little  of 
the  Arab  and  a  touch  too  much  of  Flanders. 
And  as  I  cannot  claim  that  all  the  good  blood 
brought  into  Wales  made  its  way  to  the  pony 
on  the  hills,  while  all  the  bad  blood  staid  below, 
I  must  admit  that  he  has  been  affected  by  these 
later  introductions;  but  in  far  less  degree,  for 
time  has  not  been  left  to  have  its  final  way,  nor 
is  the  coarser  strain  of  Eastern  potency.  We 
must  also  remember  that  two  centuries  ago, 
when  these  adventures  in  breeding  began,  the 
English  had  commenced  those  prudent  experi- 
ments with  the  Arab  cross  which  has  fixed  the 
thoroughbred  in  his  sovereign  place.  There 
had  been  occasional  importations  of  the  Arab 
ever  since  the  Roman  days,  but  the  English 
horses  were  of  such  numerous  and  diffused  types, 
and  so  unlike  the  Eastern  horse  in  build  and 
nature,  that  such  spasmodic  introductions  had 
no  permanent  effect.  The  great  improvement 
came  with  the  determined  enthusiasm  and  pa- 
tience of  the  eighteenth  century  breeders;  and 
it  seems  providential  again  that  as  the  ways 

19 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

of  breeding  between  England  and  Wales  became 
promiscuously  open,  the  Eastern  blood  was 
becoming  prevalent  in  England. 

From  this  source  the  Welsh  breeders  began 
renewing  the  beneficent  strain  in  the  slow,  best 
manner.  Merlin,  a  descendant  of  the  Brierly 
Turk,  after  his  brilliant  years  on  the  turf,  was 
brought  to  Wales  and  turned  out  with  the 
ponies  on  the  Ruabon  hills  to  become  the  founder 
of  a  famous  and  prolific  line.  Mr.  Richard 
Crashaw  secured  for  his  county  the  Arab  sire 
of  Cymro  Llwd;  and  in  Merioneithshire,  the 
half-Arab,  Apricot,  of  multiple  progeny,  became 
an  imperishable  tradition.  Seventy  or  eighty 
years  ago,  Mr.  Morgan  Williams  put  Arab  sires 
with  his  droves  on  the  hills  behind  Aberpergwm; 
and  it  was  in  this  region  that  in  recent  years 
Moonlight  was  discovered,  roving  and  unshod, 
by  Mr.  Meuric  Lloyd,  and  this  dam  of  certain 
Arabian  descent  gave  Wales  her  DyoU  Star- 
light, to  whose  paternity  I  have  referred. 

Notwithstanding  this  reinforcement  of  his 
aristocracy,  there  were  too  many  doors  left 
carelessly  open.  The  larger  pony  of  the  lower 
lands  was  becoming  mixed  with  the  Cardingan- 

20 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

shire  cob;  and  some  owners  were  guilty  of  letting 
half-bred  Shire  colts  have  the  run  of  the  hills. 
In  time  the  only  safe  place  for  the  mountain 
pony  would  have  been  the  topmost  crests,  but 
for  an  event  of  happy  effect  upon  his  destiny. 
This  was  the  organization  of  the  Welsh-Pony- 
and  Cob-Society  in  the  Royal  Show  Yard  at 
Cardiff  one  springtime  eleven  years  ago.  Lord 
Tredegar  was  the  first  president,  and  after  him 
the  Earl  of  Powys.  King  George  became  a 
patron,  and  the  society  acquired  an  impetus 
that  proved  it  had  not  been  born  too  soon.  Not 
only  are  all  the  Shires  of  Wales  represented  in 
its  council,  but  also  the  border  counties  of 
Monmouth,  Shropshire  and  Hereford.  The 
formation  of  a  Stud  Book  was  the  initial  practi- 
cal business  of  the  Society,  and  its  first  volumes 
derive  special  value  from  the  fact  that  Wales 
has  always  tended  to  the  patriarchial  system, 
and  her  traditions,  whether  of  horses  or  families, 
can  be  relied  upon.  There  have  always  been 
wise  and  prudent  breeders  in  the  land;  men 
who  could,  in  some  degree,  counteract  indiffer- 
ence and  hold  to  ideal  aim. 

The  Society  went  to  its  work  with  "ears  laid 

21 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

back";  but  I  will  mention  only  two  of  its 
achievements.  One  of  these,  which  will  affect 
the  pony's  future,  so  long  as  ponies  be,  was  an 
Act  of  Parliament  that  enables  breeders  to  clear 
the  Commons  of  all  stallions  which  a  competent 
committee  decides  are  undesirable.  The  Com- 
mon Lands  of  Wales  are  so  extensive,  and  com- 
prise so  many  tracts,  that  improvement  by 
selection  other  than  nature's  is  a  farce  so  long 
as  the  pasturage  is  free  to  any  and  all.  Nature 
long  ago  accomplished  her  best  for  the  Welsh 
pony,  and  while  he  was  practically  an  isolated 
type  it  was  easy  to  maintain  her  standard.  But 
with  multifarious  breeds  and  half-breeds  in 
proximity,  the  carelessness  of  man  was  begin- 
ning to  undo  her  work,  and  Wales  might  have 
followed  Ireland  in  the  deterioration  of  her 
pony  stock  and  the  loss  of  a  fixed  type,  if  the 
Society  had  not  actively  intervened.  The 
struggle  over  the  Act  was  discouragingly  pro- 
longed, for  Taffy  is  sometimes  stubborn,  and  he 
could  not  see  that  the  right  to  use  the  Commons 
would  still  be  a  right  if  it  were  limited  by  con- 
sideration for  one's  neighbors.  His  beast  might 
be  as  poor  a  thing  as  he  pleased — sickle-hocked, 

22 


:M 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

goose-rumped,  tucked  up  in  the  brisket,  as  some 
of  the  larger  valley-bred  ponies  were,  and,  alas, 
are  —  but  if  it  could  successfully  beguile  the 
feminine  portion  of  his  neighbor's  carefully  sorted 
drove,  the  helpless  neighbor,  injured  in  heart  and 
pocket,  had  no  redress.  Finally,  after  many  dif- 
ficulties, unwearying  effort,  and  a  constant  dis- 
play of  good  nature,  the  committee  secured  the 
passage  of  the  Act  and  put  an  end  to  what  one 
of  the  overworked  members,  exasperated  to  hu- 
mor, termed  the  "unlimited  liability  sire  system." 
I  have  mentioned  two  sections  where  this 
system  had  been  brought  to  a  close  some  years 
before  the  passage  of  the  Act.  One  of  these  is 
the  Longmynd  Range,  lying  back  of  Church 
Stretton,  in  Shropshire.  Though  beyond  the 
March,  it  is  practially  Welsh  in  all  that  concerns 
its  pony  interests.  The  Range  covers  about 
seventy  square  miles,  and  at  the  top  is  a  plateau, 
two  thousand  feet  high,  which  was  a  stronghold 
of  the  pony  before  England  began  to  write  her 
history.  Deep  gullies  cut  the  slopes  and  widen 
into  ravines,  then  into  valleys.  There  are  crags 
to  climb,  and  boggy  dongas  to  be  avoided.  The 
heather  in  places  is  girth-deep,  and  altogether 

23 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

it  is  a  typical  breeding  spot  of  the  wild  mountain 
pony.  Here  we  understand  how  he  came  by 
his  agility  and  hardiness,  and  realize  how  per- 
sistent must  be  the  qualities  bred  into  him  by 
centuries  of  such  environment.  In  this  region 
it  has  been  the  custom  for  the  last  twenty-five 
years  to  have  an  annual  drive  and  round-up, 
when  all  the  ponies  are  brought  down,  selected, 
sorted,  the  undesirables  cast  out,  and  the  others, 
excepting  those  picked  for  market,  or  exchanged 
for  ponies  of  another  run,  sent  back  to  freedom. 
The  ponies  are  not  eager  to  leave  their  heights, 
and  they  give  the  riders  that  bring  them  down 
an  anxious  as  well  as  exhilarating  time.  The 
"drives"  take  place  in  September,  and  I  hope 
to  be  at  the  next  one,  but  whether  for  the  sake 
of  poetry  or  ponies  I  don't  yet  know.  I  am 
beginning  to  believe  that  they  are  not  unrelat- 
able. 

The  other  section  where  practically  the  same 
system  was  adopted  years  ago,  is  Gower  Com- 
mon, on  the  Peninsula  near  Swansea.  In  this 
region,  as  in  Longmynd,  the  standard  has  been 
raised  in  a  manner  very  attractive  to  the 
contemplative  purchaser;  but  I  would  not  sound 

24 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

the  merits  of  their  ponies  above  all  others,  for 
here  and  there  throughout  Wales  are  breeders 
who,  with  difficulty  and  expense,  have  individu- 
ally practiced  a  system  of  sorting;  and  now 
that  the  Commons  Act  has  been  passed,  every 
one,  be  he  breeder  or  pony,  will  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  do  his  best  for  his  country. 

The  Society's  other  achievement  which  I  wish 
to  note  connects  itself  with  the  United  States 
and  the  mystifying  evolution  of  a  new  order 
regulating  the  certification  of  those  recognized 
breeds  to  be  accorded  exemption  from  import 
duty  "on  and  after  January  1,  1911."  The 
only  thing  clear  to  me  in  regard  to  the  inter- 
national reactions  involved,  is  that  without  the 
establishment  of  a  Stud  Book,  and  the  vigorous 
registrative  activity  of  the  Society's  Council,  the 
new  order,  which  recognizes  the  Welsh  pony  as 
a  pure  breed  exempt  from  duty,  would  not  be 
in  existence,  and  the  same  mysterious  "rules" 
and  "exceptions"  that  bewildered  breeders 
previous  to  1911  would  still  be  a  discouragement 
to  exportation.    Whereas  all  is  now  plain  sailing. 

And  here  is  the  end  of  my  prologizing.  Hav- 
ing finished  with  his  history,  I  shall  be  ready 

25 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

in  my  next  to  tell  you  something  of  the  pony 
himself.  In  this  letter  I  have  only  tried  to 
uncover  some  of  the  influences  that  have  made 
him  what  he  is  to-day  —  in  beauty  an  Arab, 
in  constitution  an  original  pony.  There  was^ 
first,  his  early  purity  of  type  as  a  descendant  of 
the  true  pony  that  homed  in  these  lands.  It 
has  been  said  that  when  Henry  the  Eighth 
passed  his  law  for  the  extermination  of  all 
horses  below  an  approved  stature,  some  of  the 
lowland  ponies,  scenting  danger  and  led  by 
equine  Tells  and  Winkelrieds,  retreated  to  the 
mountain  fastnesses,  defied  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land, and  became  the  Welsh  mountain  pony. 
This  is  a  mistake.  The  ponies  scattered  through 
the  Shires  were  weedy  stunts  of  horse  breeds 
from  which  all  trace  of  the  Pony  Celticus  had 
long  disappeared;  and  if  any  of  the  persecuted 
beasts  gained  the  regions  of  safety  that  lay 
cupped  in  the  lofty  hollows  of  the  Welsh  slopes, 
they  found  native  occupants  before  them.  But 
I  cannot  believe  that  the  mountain  stock  ever 
received  this  dreggy  mixture  from  the  Shires. 
In  spite  of  his  ancient  and  resisting  lineage, 
such  adulteration  would  have  left  its  mark  on 

26 


2i       & 

Z    K 


E    ^ 
c/:)    O 

J     ^ 


^     S 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

the  pony's  conformation,  as,  for  instance,  the 
large  ears  of  the  Dartmoor,  or  the  coarse  heads 
of  the  Fell  ponies.  Doctor  Johnson  suggested 
(not  confidently,  I  admit)  that  the  word  "pony" 
came  from  "puny,"  and  was  applied  to  the 
creatures  so  stigmatized  because  they  were  puny 
degenerates  of  a  nobler  breed.  Though  he  was 
wrong  philologically,  we  have  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  he  knew  the  lowland  pony  of  his 
times;  and  when  I  come  across  the  implication 
that  these  "degenerates"  escaped  hostile  hands, 
scaled  unaccustomed  heights,  and  became  the 
ancestors  of  the  Welsh  pony,  with  all  his  in- 
vincibilities, it  simply  puts  my  back  up. 

But  I  was  recapitulating.  The  second  salient 
factor  in  the  production  of  our  pony  was  the 
manner  in  which  the  Eastern  blood  was  intro- 
duced —  those  repeated  infusions  from  the 
earliest  times  in  a  form  most  favorable  for  min- 
gling with  his  own.  And  a  third  influence  was 
his  remote,  mountain  home.  Perhaps  this 
ought  to  be  put  first,  as  it  made  possible  the 
other  two.  It  kept  him  a  Pony  Celticus  long 
after  the  species  in  other  parts  of  Britain  had 
become  mixed  with  the   Forest  tribe;    and  it 


27 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

prevented  the  rapid  introduction  of  alien  blood 
which,  even  when  it  is  of  the  best,  will  if  too 
liberally  applied  turn  the  hardy  and  valuable 
pony  into  an  indifferent  small  horse. 

These  are  the  influences  which,  working  to- 
gether for  seventeen  hundred  years  (from  the 
first  to  the  eighteenth  centuries),  produced  the 
precious  and  unexcelled  foundation  pony-stock 
of  the  Welsh  mountains. 

I  suspect  that  this  compression  into  stark  out- 
lines of  my  delectable  wanderings  after  facts  and 
conclusions  has  made  me  too  prosy  for  your 
patience,  —  but  if  I  make  any  apology  it  will  be 
to  the  pony;  remembering,  as  I  do,  one  Sunday 
morning  in  Brecon,  when  I  sallied  out  unmoved 
by  the  church-bells,  which  chime  so  indefati- 
gably  in  Welshland,  and  climbed  the  highest, 
craggiest  hill  in  sight. 

On  the  top  of  it  I  found  a  small  herd  of  ponies, 
living  without  bluff  or  boast  the  simple  life. 
There  were  several  mares  with  young  foals,  and 
some  colts  of  poetic  promise,  which  led  me  to 
press  for  entrance  into  the  family  circle;  but 
with  retreating  dignity  they  let  me  know  that 
I  was  a  mere  inquisitive  bounder,  and  I  was 

28 


>  o 

O  ^ 

oL  o 

O  « 

Q  -o 

Z  .5 


nfd&KK 


HIS  PEDIGREE 

reduced  to  the  old  trick  that  used  to  work  so 
successfully  with  the  cows  in  the  high  meadow 
above  the  red  cottage  in  Shelburne.  I  laid 
myself  down,  my  hands  over  my  eyes  and  my 
fingers  craftily  windowed,  and  in  a  few  moments 
was  surrounded  by  a  group  investigating  me 
with  scientific  detachment.  Then  I  found  my- 
self looking  into  eyes,  very  different  from  un- 
imaginative Bossy's.  Through  their  un- 
guarded limpidity  1  was  admitted  to  a  realm 
where  it  seemed  for  the  moment,  at  least,  that 

"beast,  as  man,  had  dreams, 
And  sought  his  stars." 

Cardinal  Newman  said  that  we  knew  less  of 
animals  than  of  angels.  A  severer  modicum  of 
knowledge  could  not  be  imputed  to  mortals. 
But  we  must  admit  the  truth  of  the  maxim. 
Such  then  and  so  bottomless  being  the  depth  of 
our  ignorance,  how  can  we  bestow  his  just  dues 
upon  our  "brother  without  hands,"  the  creature 
that  Huxley  called  the  finest  piece  of  animal 
mechanism  in  existence.^ 

0.  T.  D. 


29 


THE  WELSH  PONY— HIS  QUALITIES 
LETTER  NUMBER  TWO 


LETTER  NUMBER  TWO 


London^  England^  August  /,  1912. 

Dear  A : 

I  have  just  returned  from  a  day  in  Epping 
Forest,  whither  I  was  drawn  by  a  rumor  of 
primeval  beeches  to  be  seen  there.  And  I 
found  them  —  groves  of  the  great  trees,  each 
as  large  as  the  largest  oak  of  my  memory.  But- 
my  interest  was  soon  divided,  for  our  pony  was 
there  too  —  very  lovely  and  very  Welsh  — 
tripping  along  the  forest  roads  and  drawing  the 
mind  away  from  a  reverie  of  the  old  Saxon  days, 
for  it  was  in  these  very  woods  that  the  pious 
Confessor  impartially  exercised  his  two  passion* 
for  praying  and  hunting,  and  here  that  his 
devotions  were  so  disturbed  by  the  multitudi- 
nous nightingales  that  he  besought  God  to 
banish  them;  and  history  records  that  the  birds 
had  to  go.  But  I  suspect  that  the  arrows  of 
Edward's  obedient  henchmen  assisted  a  too 
complaisant  deity  in  the  work  of  banish- 
ment. This,  too,  is  the  forest  through  which 
the  mourning  Githa  brought  the  body  of 
"  Haroldus    infelix "    to     be     interred     in    the 


31 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

abbey  founded  by  him  in  the  woods  he  had 
loved.  But  such  faded  memories  yielded  to 
the  modern  picture  as  soon  as  I  saw  that  my 
little  gallant  from  the  Welsh  hills  formed  a 
lively  part  of  it.  He  was  there  in  numbers, 
attached  to  carts  full  of  children,  to  ladies'  traps, 
and  sometimes  to  a  more  ambitious  vehicle. 
I  saw  one  noble  fellow,  barely  eleven  hands 
high,  drawing  two  fat  men,  each  weighing,  to 
my  indignant  eyes,  at  least  seventeen  stone. 
In  my  first  rashness  I  should  have  protested, 
but  the  men  were  lolling  back  in  such  a  haze 
of  bliss,  pipes  in  their  mouths,  and  beaming 
with  contentment,  that  I  felt  it  would  be  irrever- 
ent to  disturb  a  happiness  so  rare  in  this  rough 
world.  I  also  saw  that  the  little  Welsher  was 
in  good  fettle  and  would  probably  be  the 
first  to  resent  a  protest  involving  an  impeach- 
ment of  his  powers. 

The  carts  that  pleased  me  most  were  those 
that  overflowed  with  chirruppy,  glowing  chil- 
dren. They  usually  took  the  by-ways  denied 
to  the  motors,  and  as  they  bubbled  out  of  sight 
into  a  leafy  world,  I  felt  renewedly  grateful  to 
the  gentle  servitor  that  makes  such  intimacy 

32 


i- 


gs 


HIS  QUALITIES 

between  childhood  and  woodland  possible. 
Little  feet  cannot  get  far  unassisted,  but  give 
them  such  a  helper  as  the  pony  and  their  explo- 
rations need  hardly  be  limited.  The  ideal 
creature  for  this  purpose  is  the  mountain  pony 
of  about  eleven  hands.  Sagacious  and  docile, 
he  is  the  safest  of  companions,  and  is  just  as 
happy  under  saddle  as  in  harness.  The  Welsh- 
Pony-  and  Cob-Society  recognizes  two  classes  of 
the  pony,  one  this  smaller  animal  of  the  moun- 
tains, not  exceeding  twelve  hands  in  height, 
and  the  larger  pony,  usually  lowland  bred,  which 
may  be  as  high  as  thirteen  hands.  But  the 
mountain  pony  is  held  to  be  the  foundation 
stock  of  all  the  ponies  of  Wales;  furnishing  the 
indestructible  material  from  which  is  bred  the 
little  hunter,  saddler  and  harness  pony,  or  the 
dear,  obliging  factotum  who  will  equably  plough 
your  garden  in  the  morning  and  high-step  in 
the  park  in  the  afternoon.  Whatever  his 
family  leanings,  toward  the  Arab,  thoroughbred, 
or  more  cobby-built  type,  you  will  find  his 
"pony  character"  unaffected.  I  have  already 
alluded  to  this  attribute,  so  evident  in  the 
pony    and    so    elusive    in    definition.     It    is    a 

33 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

quality  made  up  of  so  many  others  that  a  full 
description  would  be  mere  endless  analysis. 
Even  the  all-charitable  word,  "temperament," 
will  not  shelter  inadequacy  here.  To  know  it 
one  must  know  the  pony.  A  hint  of  it  is  found 
in  his  warm,  quick  sympathy.  The  horse,  how- 
ever faithful,  can  at  times  be  cold  and  judicial 
in  friendship.  The  pony  accepts  you  without 
reserving  his  judgment.  He  must  love  wholly, 
by  virtue  of  the  romance  that  is  in  him  —  a 
tinge  of  imagination  that  enables  him  to  idealize 
rather  than  criticise,  and  not  an  inferior  men- 
tality as  some  students  of  horse  psychology 
would  mistakenly  have  it.  But,  though  the 
latchstring  of  welcome  is  always  out,  he  will 
never  toss  it  in  your  face,  for  he,  too,  has  a 
dignity  that  awaits  approach.  He  serves  you, 
but  he  is  not  your  underling.  If  you  are  so  cruel 
as  to  be  simply  the  master,  ignoring  the  higher 
calls  of  companionship,  he  does  not  retreat 
into  indifference,  as  the  horse  will,  but  remains 
hopeful,  expectant,  until  he  wins  an  under- 
standing or  breaks  his  heart.  I  do  not  exagger- 
ate. Wait  till  you  know  him;  and  then  you 
will  not  more  than  feebly  doubt  the  story  of  the 

34 


HIS  QUALITIES 

pony  who  came  to  his  aged  master,  Saint 
Columba,  on  the  day  he  was  to  die,  and  fore- 
mourned  their  parting. 

"Character"  is  also  found  in  the  way  the  pony 
uses  his  eye  —  the  manner  of  his  outlook  on 
the  world.  In  the  horse's  eye  one  may  some- 
times read  a  slight  suggestion  of  boredom.  He 
is  disillusioned.  But  the  pony  does  not  confess 
to  a  finished  experience;  there  may  be  surprises 
ahead.  He  is  blithely  ready  for  the  unusual; 
and  this  brings  us  to  another  element  of  "char- 
acter" which  is  peculiarly  the  pony's;  that  is, 
a  shrewd  understanding  which  gets  him  out  of 
a  difficulty  while  the  horse  is  still  pondering. 
The  latter  has  had  his  nose  in  the  mangers  of 
civilization  so  long  that  he  has  lost  the  men- 
tal independence  which  his  pre-domestic  life 
fostered.  Unstimulating,  derivative  knowledge 
he  has  in  plenty  from  his  association  with  man; 
but  the  Welsh  pony  of  the  hilltops,  to  this  day 
pressed  by  the  necessity  of  looking  out  for  him- 
self, has  a  capable  initiative  which  the  horse 
does  not  possess.  Through  ages  on  his  se- 
questered peaks  he  fought  for  life  against  an. 
enemy  armed  with  sleet  and  snows  and  dearth,^, 

35 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

and  the  record  of  his  struggle  is  writ  in  his 
fibre.  He  knows  where  he  may  climb  and  where 
he  may  not,  the  slopes  that  will  let  him  live 
and  the  steeps  where  starvation  waits.  The 
colt,  though  he  has  never  been  in  a  bog,  will 
avoid  its  treachery,  and  needs  no  warning  where 
the  g'^lly  is  ugly,  the  pool  deep,  or  the  ice  too 
thin  to  bear  him.  And  there  has  been  much 
hiding  and  flying,  for  the  sheep-dogs  of  Wales 
have  been  merciless  to  the  pony.  Some  call 
here,  you  see,  for  a  usable  mind! 

I  must  mention  one  more  ingredient  of  this 
composite  "character"  —  his  indomitable  spirit. 
Match  him  against  a  horse  of  equal  strength 
and  the  latter  will  be  out  of  heart  while  the  pony 
is  confidently  forging  on.  At  Forest  Lodge, 
the  home  of  a  gentleman  who  owns  the  largest 
herd  in  Wales,  I  saw  a  mare  of  less  than  twelve 
hands  just  after  she  had  taken  four  men  down 
the  long  hills  to  Brecon  and  up  again  —  four- 
teen miles  —  and  she  was  not  drooping  apart 
waiting  to  be  washed  and  rubbed  down,  but 
frisking  over  the  yard  as  if  she  were  quite  ready 
to  be  off  again.  This  spirit  that  unconsciously 
believes  in  itself  is   an  unfailing  mark  of  the 

36 


HIS  QUALITIES 

mountain   ponies.     If  ever   they   are   guilty   of 

jibbing,  or  like 

"poor  jades 
Lob  down  their  heads," 

investigation  is  sure  to  reveal  an  injudicious 
cross  too  recent  to  be  obliterated  by  the  per- 
sistent pony  strain. 

Of  this  blitheness  of  spirit  I  will  give  another 
instance.  So  far  as  I  am  involved  I  do  not 
look  back  upon  the  incident  with  pride,  but  the 
pony  in  the  case  shall  have  his  due.  At  Beddge- 
lert  I  slept  late,  and  was  not  fully  dressed  when 
informed  that  the  coach  was  at  the  door.  Being 
anxious  to  get  to  Port  Madoc  in  time  for  the 
Dolgelly  train,  I  rushed  down  and  out,  leapt 
to  a  seat,  and  was  off  before  I  realized  that  the 
"coach"  was  a  sort  of  trap  drawn  by  a  single 
pony.  There  was  a  cross  seat  for  the  driver, 
and  behind  it  two  lengthwise  seats  arranged  so 
that  the  occupants  must  sit  facing,  with  fre- 
quent personal  collision.  We  started  six  in  all, 
and  a  snug  fit  we  were.  I  would  have  descended 
and  tried  to  secure  a  private  conveyance,  in  the 
hope  of  saving  the  pony  my  own  weight  at  least, 
but  we  were  fairly  out  of  the  village  before  I 

37 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

was  fully  awake  —  and  there  was  my  train  to 
be  caught!  However,  I  soon  found  that  the 
pony  would  not  have  profited  by  any  tenderness 
on  my  part,  for  all  along  the  road  there  were 
would-be  passengers  waiting  to  be  "taken  on." 
The  first  we  met  was  helped  up  and  made  a 
third  in  the  driver's  seat,  and  the  second  pinned 
himself  somehow  into  the  seat  opposite  me.  I 
was  congratulating  myself  on  the  Welsh  courtesy 
that  had  left  me,  a  stranger,  unmolested,  when 
we  rounded  a  curve  and  I  saw  that  the  gentle 
consideration  had  been  unavailing.  A  man 
stood  by  the  way  signaling  —  a  man  of  unquali- 
fied depth  and  breadth.  I  thought  that  he 
alone  might  fill  the  cart.  As  that  astounding 
driver  halted  and  the  man  approached  my 
instinct  for  self-preservation  came  basely  upper- 
most. I  had  observed  the  middle  passenger 
on  the  other  seat  to  be  quiet,  elderly  and  lean. 
I  coveted  a  seat  beside  him,  and  hastily,  on  the 
pretext  of  being  a  stranger,  desiring  a  better 
view  of  the  landscape,  asked  an  exchange  of 
seats  with  the  opposite  end,  which  was  courte- 
ously granted  ■ —  all  to  no  purpose.  My  lean 
neighbor,  all  at  once,  took  on  alarming  latitude. 

38 


HIS  QUALITIES 

I  had  reckoned  without  disestablishment.  It 
seemed  the  man  was  a  bitter  opponent  of  Lloyd 
George.  If  some  one  dropped  a  word  of 
advocacy  he  was  straightway  a  tempest  of  op- 
position. His  shoulders  threatened,  his  elbows 
flung  dissent,  his  fingers  snapped,  his  arms, 
compassing  the  visible  area,  were  not  dodgeable, 
as  he  defied  the  world,  the  bill  and  the  devil 
in  the  shape  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 

—  ah  well,  there  was  nothing  left  for  me  but 
resignation  and  nine  in  a  donkey  cart. 

Thus  it  was  I  journeyed  through  the  wonderful 
Pass  of  Aberglaslyn  with  its  dripping  cliffs,  walls 
of  crysoprase,  and  bowlders  of  shattered  dawn 

—  beauty  of  which  I  wrote  you,  with  care  at 
the  time  not  to  trench  upon  circumstances  here 
disclosed.  And  thus  I  passed  by  beautiful 
Tanyrallt,  once  the  home  of  Shelley,  but  I  did 
not  lift  my  eyes  to  the  slope  where  the  house 
stood.  I  kept  them  on  the  roots  of  the  mighty 
trees  that  border  the  foot  of  the  hill,  for  I  felt 
that  if  I  looked  up  I  should  see  my  poet's 
passionate  apparition  confronting  me.  Such 
an  angel  as  he  was  to  the  poor  beasts!  How  I 
came    back    afterwards    to    make    my    apology 

39 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

to  his  spirit  need  be  no  part  of  this  letter. 
When  we  reached  Port  Madoc,  dissevered,  and 
dropped  ourselves  out,  I  crept  around  to  the 
pony  with  commiserating  intent,  and  found 
him  to  be  the  only  unwilted  member  of  the 
party.  He  had  lost  neither  breath  nor  dignity, 
and  his  happy  air  and  the  tilt  of  his  lovely 
head  seemed  almost  an  affront  to  one  in  my 
humbled  state.  He  was  under  thirteen  hands, 
and  he  had  drawn  nine  of  us  eight  miles  over 
an  uneven  road  at  an  unflagging  trot;  and  here 
he  was  almost  laughing  in  my  face,  and  barely 
moist  under  his  harness. 

It  is  his  sureness  of  himself  that  keeps  him 
cool,  being  neither  anxious  nor  fearful  of  failure. 
Of  course  this  confident  spirit  has  its  source  in 
his  physical  hardiness.  In  mere  bodily  endur- 
ance he  is  the  equal  of  the  pony  of  Northern 
Russia,  while  much  his  superior  in  conformation. 
But  I  should  never  use  the  phrase  I  so  often 
heard,  "You  canH  tire  him  out."  It  is  wrong 
to  suppose  that  he  can  be  pushed  without 
limit,  or  kept  constantly  at  the  edge  of  his 
capacity,  and  be  none  the  worse  for  it.  Too 
often  the  pony  that  might  have  lived  usefully 

40 


O    13 
z    .^ 


HIS  QUALITIES 

for  thirty  or  forty  years  is  brought  to  his  death 
at  twenty.  He  will  give  man  his  best  for  little 
enough.  On  half  the  food  that  a  horse  must 
have,  he  will  do  that  horse's  work;  and  when 
not  in  service,  all  he  asks  is  a  nibbling  place, 
barren  as  may  be  —  no  housing,  blanketing, 
coddling.  I  know  of  a  pony  mare  who  has 
spent  every  winter  of  her  life  unsheltered  on 
the  hills  of  Radnorshire,  and  has  not  missed 
foaling  a  single  year  since  she  was  four  years 
old.  The  last  account  I  have  reports  her  as 
forty-one  and  with  her  thirty-seventh  foal. 
And  I  have  come  across  other  instances  of 
longevity  that  make  me  believe  that  the  pony 
that  dies  at  twenty  dies  young  and  has  not 
been  wisely  used. 

Formerly  the  ponies  on  the  hills  had  no  help 
from  man,  however  long  the  snows  lay  or  the 
winds  lashed;  but  now,  if  severe  weather  per- 
sists, they  are  brought  down  to  the  valleys,  or 
rough  fodder  is  taken  to  them.  At  Forest 
Lodge  I  saw  four  hundred  ponies  freshly  home 
from  a  winter  sojourn  on  the  hills  near  Aberyst- 
wyth. They  still  wore  the  shaggy  hair  put  on 
against  a  pinching  February  and  stinging  March 

41 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

under  open  skies.  A  little  later  they  would 
shed  these  protective  coats  and  be  trim  and 
sleek  for  the  summer.  I  had  been  repeatedly 
told  that  the  Welsh  pony  was  remarkably  free 
from  unsoundness,  but  among  so  many  that 
had  not  been  sorted  for  the  year,  and  were  at 
the  worn  end  of  their  hardest  season,  I  expected 
to  find  some  of  the  lesser  blemishes,  if  not 
defects  of  the  more  serious  kind.  But  if  I  did, 
it  was  with  a  rarity  that  effectually  argued 
against  them.  And  I  found  this  true  all  through 
Wales.  Occasionally  I  would  see  low  withers, 
a  water-shoot  tail,  or  drooping  quarters.  But 
predominantly  the  quarters  were  good,  not  with 
the  roundness  that  denies  speed,  burying  the 
muscles  in  puffy  obscurity,  but  displaying  the 
strong  outline  which  is  a  plump  suggestion  of 
the  gnarled  and  bossy  hip-bone  beneath.  As 
for  the  high  withers  that  are  always  to  be 
desired,  the  Welsh  pony  is  better  off  in  this 
respect  than  the  other  breeds  of  Britain,  unless 
it  be  the  pure  Highland  type.  You  who  re- 
member Belmont  days  full  of  equine  signifi- 
cances, need  not  be  told  how  much  the  horse 
is     affected    in     anatomical    free    play    by    the 

42 


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HIS  QUALITIES 

withers.  If  they  are  high  the  interlacing  fibres 
attaching  the  shoulder-bone  to  the  trunk  may 
rise  freely,  and  the  shoulder  arm  be  long  and 
sloping  —  a  position  which  gives  easy  move- 
ment and  power  to  the  forearm  and  the 
structures  below  it — the  pony  moves  gracefully, 
without  strain,  with  good  action  and  sure 
speed.  But  low  withers  limit  propulsion  from 
the  shoulder,  and  while  there  may  be  good 
knee  action  the  pony  must  pay  out  strength 
to  get  it.  There  is,  besides,  a  strain  on  the 
cervical  muscles  which  makes  natural  grace 
impossible.  Dealers  can  often  persuade  buyers 
that  the  upright  shoulder  is  stronger  for  harness 
work,  and  here  in  London  parks  I  have  seen 
horses  of  this  type  dash  strainingly  along, 
expending  their  strength  in  fashionable  action, 
and  with  the  unavoidable  pull  on  the  neck 
"corrected"  by  the  bearing-rein;  the  average 
owner  not  guessing  the  difficulty  of  his  creat- 
ures, or  the  torture  that  in  years  too  few  will 
bring  them  to  a  coster's  cart  or  the  dump- 
heap.  Having  seen  and  mourned  such  things, 
I  was  happy  to  find  high  withers  the  rule 
in    Wales,    and    to    learn    that    wise    breeders, 

43 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

were  laying  stress  on  this  point  and  breeding 
for  it. 

Although,  as  I  have  said,  there  has  been  some 
imprudent  crossing  with  heavier  breeds,  these 
unsuccessful  types  are  being  weeded  out,  and 
methods  of  improving  the  Welsh  pony  are  now, 
for  the  most  part,  confined  to  individual  selec- 
tion within  his  own  breed,  or  to  the  careful 
introduction  of  thoroughbred  and  Arab  blood. 
Of  course  the  door  is  not  entirely  closed  to 
other  comers,  and  I  talked  with  one  breeder 
of  thirty  years'  experience  who  believed  in 
mating  his  ponies  with  any  sire  of  fine  type 
that  had  the  points  he  was  trying  for.  But 
this  gentleman  possesses  a  sixth  sense  in  regard 
to  horses,  and  can  safely  indulge  in  latitude 
that  might  prove  disastrous  in  the  case  of  an 
equally  conscientious  but  less  intelligent  breeder. 
Such  a  method  heightens  interest  and  is  an 
open  invitation  to  adventurous  possibilities;  but 
it  is  just  as  well,  I  think,  that  there  are  others 
who  go  to  the  opposite  extreme  and  are  ready 
to  preach  on  all  occasions  against  bringing 
alien  blood  into  the  mountains.  From  the 
shades  of  Ephraim  a  poser  was  once  flung  to 

44 


HIS  QUALITIES 

the  world  —  "Can  two  walk  together  unless 
they  be  agreed?"  In  this  Instance,  one  might 
surprise  hoary  Amos  with  an  affirmative,  for 
these  two  classes  of  breeders  do  walk  and  work 
together  for  the  good  of  the  Welsh  pony;  one 
a  barrier  to  harmful  laxity,  the  other  a  protest 
against  overcautious  restriction.  But  while 
guarding  him  from  invasion  on  his  mountains, 
the  most  rigid  of  the  "shut-the-door"  advocates 
will  permit  him  to  go  forth  and  conquer  where 
he  may.  It  is  partly  to  strengthen  him  for 
these  expeditions  that  they  insist  on  keeping 
the  mountain  stock  unmixed;  and  it  is  true  that 
in  recent  years  he  has  grown  much  in  favor  as 
a  factor  in  the  improvement  and  modification 
of  other  pony  breeds. 

The  Polo  pony  is  profiting  much  by  his  blood. 
It  seems  that  the  mountain  habits  practiced  by 
the  Welsh  pony,  in  family  seclusion  and  without 
applause,  such  as  climbing  ledges  like  a  fly, 
turning  and  twisting  himself  out  of  physio- 
graphical  difficulties,  not  to  speak  of  his  leaping 
powers  (his  tribe  has  furnished  a  champion 
jumper  of  the  world)  and  his  quick  mental 
reaction   upon  the  unexpected,   have  produced 

45 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

just  the  virtues  which  figure  most  brilliantly 
on  the  polo  field.  As  the  game  has  grown  in 
complexity,  the  ponies  of  the  plains,  Argentine, 
Arabian,  American,  have  given  place  to  those 
of  hill-bred  ancestry.  To  get  the  requisite 
height  and  weight-bearing  power,  yet  keep 
the  pony  qualities,  the  hardihood,  the  astute- 
ness, the  thought-like  instancy  of  motion  —  a 
wit  that  can  almost  prophesy  —  is  a  problem 
that  is  being  patiently  worked  out.  I  cannot 
follow  the  mystical  ways  which  lead  to  the 
production  of  the  unparagoned  Polo  pony;  but 
it  is  not  until  the  third  or  fourth  generation 
that  the  breeder  arrives  at  the  nonpareil,  the 
heart's  desire  of  the  polo  player.  In  the  first 
generation  a  thoroughbred  cross  with  the  moun- 
tain stock  is  more  satisfactory  than  the  Arab, 
but  the  advantage  is  soon  lost,  as  a  type  with 
a  pedigree  covering  something  over  two  hundred 
years  cannot  compete  in  persistence  with  one 
that  has  been  established  for  five  times  that 
period. 

But  to  get  back  to  the  pony  on  his  hill-tops. 
Careful  breeding  from  the  finest  of  the  native 
stock   is    now   doing    more   for   him   than    any 

46 


2;  ^ 


z   = 

O     J 


HIS  QUALITIES 

crossing.  While  close  in-breeding  tends  to  bring 
out  latent  defects  in  any  strain,  the  mountain 
families  are  so  numerous,  and  the  points  to  be 
kept  down  are  so  few,  that  this  gives  little 
trouble  to  breeders.  I  have  spoken  of  the  low 
withers,  which  are  being  eliminated,  and  some- 
times there  is  a  badly  set-on  head  —  a  more 
serious  matter  that,  if  beauty  only  were  in- 
volved —  but  an  angular  junction  is  not  often 
seen,  and  the  head  in  every  case  is  finely  formed, 
with  the  large,  wide  brow  of  the  Arab,  tapering 
face-bones,  small,  sensitive  ears,  delicate,  silken 
mouth  that  needs  only  a  touch  in  guidance,  and 
roomy  underchannel  between  the  branches  of 
the  lower  jaw.  There  is  never  a  fiddle-head, 
heavy  jaw,  leathered  nose,  or  anything  sugges- 
tive of  the  coarse-bred  animal  in  these  little 
creatures  that  may  proudly  trample  on  parch- 
ment pedigrees.  But  now  they  are  to  have 
their  parchments  too. 

I  have  heard  it  said  that  the  arching  crest 
is  not  easy  to  secure  in  conjunction  with  high 
withers,  but  the  combination  is  often  found  in 
the  Welsh  pony.  As  I  mentioned  in  my  pre- 
vious letter,  in  all  points  of  grace  he  has  more  to 

47 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

be  thankful  for  than  his  neighbors  to  the  north 
and  south  of  him.  Lord  Arthur  Cecil  suggests 
as  an  explanation  of  the  ungainliness  of  Fell 
ponies,  that  by  long  huddling  against  winter 
storms  on  treeless  slopes,  they  have  become 
hunched  and  heavy,  both  fore  and  aft,  while 
their  middle  shows  only  a  discouraged  develop- 
ment. But,  though  the  winds  of  the  Welsh 
peaks  may  be  less  keen,  they  are  keen  enough 
to  furnish  ample  incentive  to  the  huddling 
spirit;  yet  the  Welsh  pony  has  the  head  I  have 
described,  fine,  well-placed  shoulders,  a  deep, 
round  barrel,  and  quarters  that,  in  general, 
break  no  rule  of  proportion.  Therefore,  I 
think  the  difference  is  one  of  origin.  The  Fell 
pony  is  probably  a  descendant  of  dwarf  horses 
that  escaped  to  the  Pennines  during  seasons  of 
persecution,  and  being  unestablished  as  to  type 
was  more  easily  modified  by  environment.  I 
should  like  to  think  this  because  it  supports  me 
in  the  belief  that  I  have  taken  the  right  track 
in  pursuing  the  Welsh  pony's  ancestry. 

I  have  not  spoken  of  his  adaptiveness  to 
other  climates,  but  he  is  little  affected  by 
transplantation.     A  breed   formed  of  the  two 

48 


H     o 
<    U 


O    i! 


HIS  QUALITIES 

oldest  races  known,  and  having  in  its  own  type 
a  genealogical  history  of  a  thousand  years,  is 
apt  to  persist  under  any  sky,  and  this  is  probably 
why  he  thrives  so  well  apart  from  his  native 
heath.  I  am  told  that  even  in  Canada  he  does 
not  object  to  wintering  out;  but  I  should  like 
to  interview  a  pony  that  has  tried  it  before 
proffering  the  information  as  fact.  However, 
if  any  ill  reports  have  come  back  from  the 
numbers  shipped  to  Australia  and  America, 
they  have  been  successfully  concealed  from  me. 
I  want  you  to  know  that  the  mountain  pony's 
hocks  are  a  feature  not  to  be  passed  lightly  by. 
They  never  fail  to  bring  him  commendation 
from  the  horseman  who  knows.  The  curby 
hocks  sometimes  found  in  the  larger  type  of 
South  Wales  are  unknown  to  him.  His  own 
are  always  of  the  right  shape,  having  plenty  of 
compact  bone  showing  every  curve  and  denture 
under  thin,  shining  skin,  and  with  clean-cut, 
powerful  back  sinews  at  an  unhampered  dis- 
tance from  the  suspensory  tendons.  "His 
hocks  do  send  him  along,"  as  one  admirer  said. 
The  limbs  themselves,  whether  fore  or  hind, 
are  handsomely  dropped  and  clear  of  all  blemish 

49 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

—  no  bubbly  knees,  soufflets  about  the  ankles,. 
puffy  fetlocks,  or  contracted  heels.  The  pasterns 
are  of  the  approved  gentle  obliquity  —  neither 
short  and  upright,  betraying  stubborn  flexors, 
nor  long  enough  to  weaken  the  elasticity  of  the 
support  that  must  here  guard  the  whole  body 
from  concussion.  The  pastern  is  a  debatable 
point,  but  I  refer  all  advocates  of  the  "long" 
and  "short"  schools  to  the  golden  mean  which 
the  Welsh  pony  has  evolved  for  himself  in  those 
much-mentioned  disciplinary  years  on  his  prob- 
lematic hills. 

The  hoof  is  always  round,  never  the  suspicious 
bell  shape,  and  blue,  deep  and  dense.  One 
need  not  look  there  for  symptoms  of  sand-crack, 
seedy-toe,  pumice-foot,  or  any  of  the  pedal  ills 
that  too  often  beset  the  lowland  horse.  The 
centuries  of  unshod  freedom  among  his  crags 
have  given  the  hoof  a  resisting  density  coupled 
with  the  diminutive  form  that  agility  demands; 
and  this  happy  union  the  smithies  of  man  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  sever  or  vitiate.  Even  the 
thoroughbred  must  sometimes  find  a  downward 
gaze  as  fatal  to  vanity  as  did  the  peacock  of 
our  venerated  spelling-book;  but  not  the  Welsh 

50 


HIS  QUALITIES 

pony.  He  may  look  to  earth  as  to  Heaven 
with  unchastened  pride. 

And  now  that  the  hoof  has  brought  me  to 
the  ground  I  will  not  mount  again.  If  I  have 
ridden  my  pony  too  hard,  bethink  you  who  it 
was  that  set  me  upon  him.  You  remember 
Isaac  Walton's  caution  when  instructing  an 
angler  how  to  bait  a  hook  with  a  live  frog:  — 
"And  handle  the  frog  as  if  you  loved  him." 
However  infelicitously  I  may  have  impaled  the 
pony  on  my  pen,  I  hope  you  will  own  that  I 
have  done  it  as  if  I  loved  him.  Though  I  am 
not  ready  to  say  that  the  "earth  sings  when  he 
touches  it,"  be  assured  that  he  will  gallantly 
carry  more  praise  than  I  have  laid  upon  him. 

I  have  no  quarrel  with  the  motor,  though  it 
has  made  me  eat  dust  more  than  once.  As  a 
means  of  transporting  the  body  when  the  object 
is  to  arrive,  I  grant  it  superlative  place.  But  as 
a  medium  between  man  and  Nature  it  is  a  failure. 
It  will  never  bring  them  together.  The  motor 
is  restricted  to  the  highway,  and  from  the 
highway  one  can  never  get  more  from  Nature 
than  a  nod  of  half  recognition.  She  remains  a 
stranger  undivined. 

51 


THE  WELSH  PONY 

But  on  a  ramble  with  a  pony,  adaptive,  un- 
obtrusive, all  the  leisurely  ways  are  open  —  the 
deepwood  path,  or  the  trail  up  the  exhilerating 
steep.  As  self-effacing  as  you  wish,  he  saves 
you  from  weariness  and  frees  the  mind  for  its 
own  adventure.  There  will  be  pause  for  ques- 
tion, and  if  Nature  ever  answers  at  all,  you 
will  hear  her.  There  will  be  the  placid  hour 
that  is  healing-time  with  her  woods,  her  skies 
and  waters;  and  that  communion  with  her 
divinity  which  means  rest  and  —  haply  —  peace. 

0.  T.  D. 


52 


liteier  Family  Library  of  Veterinary  Mediote 
School  of  Veterinary  Medicine  at 

Tufls  University 

200  Westboro  Road 

Nofth  Grafton,  MA  01536 


>J    «-  i. 


'^ 


